Joint construction



Feb. 1, 1944. v G. o. JOHNSON 2,340,475

V JOINT CONSTRUCTION Filed 001;; 27, 1941 Patented Feb. 1, 1944 JOINT cous'muc'rrou' George Onnie. Johnson, Detroit; Mich; 1a'ssignor to ThompsonTro'ducts Incorporated} Cleveland;

' Ohio, a corporationoi Ohio- Application- October 27, 1941','Serial'-No.' 416,659

8? Claims. ('Cl. ZN-"'80) This invention relates .to' joint constructions.

is composed of a coil ber'having threads extending inwardly fromthe end thereof with a greater orulesser .pitch than the coilsof the spring so that. the coils are axially. stressed on .the rodor shank member. The resulting spreading apart or squeezing together of-the coils fixedly holdstthewspring onthe rod or shank since theaspring. is stressed and. frictionally grips the threads thereby resisting rota.

tion. The coili spring, has? an endwportiontprojecting from the rod or shank One or' more: of the coils of thisvprojecting portion is. deformed so as to provide: either a ball seat for; arballstudgor an 'eye. for. snapping. into thegroove of a, grooved stud.

The hall socket can be conveniently'formed byseparating 1 two: adjacent coils. of ,the spring :so: as to provide a loop over thefree. end. ofthe'b'alli and legs extending; from; the loop:.to; stra'ddlemboth sides of the ball. The shank of the ball'stud can project freely-between? theselegs.

y In. the form of .the..joint having; an eye. s nd, one or more. ofthe projecting coils: of xthet spring are deformed to. provide a; loop oreye of therprop or size; A stud having. agrooved'headtcan then be conveniently snapped into the eye since theeye isresiliently expansible.

The j oints: or connections of. this: invention are inexpensive; :easy. tomake; and. accommodate universal movement. betWeenLtheparts.

It'is, then,an object. ofthis invention to pro vide' Joint constructions "having; coiL .v spring sockets.

Another" object :of the invention is to fixedly retain a coil spring on a threaded member by adjustingthe: pitchiof the :threads tolaxially stress the coils ofthe spring: as the spring: is threaded on the member.

A further object of this invention is to provide a-ba1l and socket joint construction wherein the socket member issformed' from spread coils of a coil spring.

A further: object ofithisl invention is to "provide aswi-vel jointmha'ving an 'expansible eyeend formed: from aicoil'ispring together-with a: coil springfhollow shank portionproj ectin'g from said' eye end.

Other and further obj ects of th e'invention will be apparent to those skilled-*iri-the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheet of drawings which, by way of preferred examples; illustrate: twomodifications of the invention..

" :On-ztherdrawing:

Figure I is abrokenplan-vieun of acoil spring type ball and socket iointaaccording tothis invention.

Figure 21's a brokensidei elevational view of the joint showni'nFigure l.

. Figure 13' is a broken end elevational .viewof the joihtshown'iniFigures 1' and 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sideeelevational view otthe threadedend'iofa rod adapted-for receiving the :coilsspringzjoint socket shown'in Figures 1; to 3.

. Figure distanqenlarged fragmentary vertical crossesectional" viewpwith. parts .in sideielevation, illustratingthe :manner inwhich the-coils of the spring; are spread apart as they. are :threaded: on- 110"13118 rod.

Figure 6 is a 'broken plan view of a modified form 0!. joint construction according tothis' invention.

"Figure 7' is a'broken side. eievational view, with partsin vertical" cross section. ofthe modified joint constructionfshownain.Figure 6.

. ,Asshown on the. drawing:

--In Figures 1 to 3; inclusive' the: reference numeral 1 l0 designates generally aball; and socket joint; constructionaaccording to this invention havingraitubularccoil :spring :socket l i with one.

endihaving apluralityfof. coils C thereofthreaded onto arodz'or. shank I2. Theoshankfl, as best shownsinzFigure: 4,1has threads l2a spaced'apart a: greater distancexthana the normal spacing of thezcoils sot as to. provideccoilereceiving grooves I2b therebetweenrin.spacedi relation. It will he understood; ;1 of course; that the: grooves 12bv are continuous: .orizhelicalibut :as the coils C. are

threadedfontoithe rodf I'Zthesame will be: spread apart by rthezithreads..l2a to' provide spaces 13 therebetween. .Therspringisocketi ll .thus has a plurality :of ithe coils C vthereof spread L apart to elongatetuth'e fspringy aridhthese coils: are thus placed undentensionrandt tend" to: reclaim their originalt'spacing. As azresult, each of .thespread' mile 0 will. frictionallyzgripthe threads I 2a of the rod |2-uand will resist relative rotation betweenithe-socketandrod. I 1

Thei c0i1""spring socket it projects fora plurality of coils'fromthe end of the rod l2 as best showni-insl i'gures l' and. 2. and hasthe two end coils-spread :apart to provide a loop: I4 and outwardlyvcurved l'egs l5iextending therefrom in spacedirelationfione legi l5'has a free. end i5'a as best shown in F-igure' 3 which is" circularly. bent hack under the loo'p l4. The'otherleg: [5' has a portion I5b bentback under 'thep M" which merges with thfirst-hndeformedcoil of the spring.

As a result a ball socket is provided by the spread coils and the ball end I6 of a ball stud I1 is adapted to be snapped into the socket defined by the spread coils. The. stud I! has a threaded shank} portion I 8 adapted for insertion, in any type ,of mounting. The ball end 16 thereof can readily be snapped between the legs I;

and the loop [4 will retain the free end of the ball. The legs l5 thus straddle the sides of'the' ball and the leg ends l5a and b provide additional ball retaining means. The shank portion of the stud can project freely between the legs i5. Connections between operating members such 1. A joint construction comprising a coiled spring member having deformed adjacent coils spread-apart and shaped-to definea ball stud receiving recess,!and a ball stud having the ball end thereof snapped into said recess.

2. A link construction comprising a rod having a threaded end portion, a tubular helically coiledspring having coils at a different pitch than the pitch of said threaded end portion in threaded engagement with the threaded end portion whereby said coils are deformed into stressed position for gripping the threads of the rod, said V coil spring having an integral end beyond said as between a throttle rod and a crank arm can be readily made by joints of this invention by merely threading the coil spring socket H1 onto th throttle rod and by snapping a ball stud l I carried by the crank arm into the ball socket provided by the spread coils of the spring.

In the modification shown in Figures 6 and '7, a tubular coil spring 2| has coils C normally separated to provide spaces 22 therebetween. A rod 23 has a threaded end provided with threads 24 having a lesser Pitch than the pitch of the coils C so as to provide grooves 25 between the threads which are spaced closer together than the free spacing of the coils. Thus when the spring is threaded onto the rod 23' the coils C' are compressed into closer relation and smaller spaces 26 are provided between the coils. This compression of the coils produces the same efiect as the stressing of the coilsdescribed above in connection with Figures 1 to 5, namely, to resist rotation of the coil spring relative to the rod.

The vcoil spring 2| projectsfreely from the end of the rod 23 for several coils and. is deformed at the end thereof to provide a laterally extending leg 21 which has the end portion thereof bent into a loop or eye 28. The projecting coils allow tilting of the leg 21 in all planes. A stud member 29 has a head 39 with a reduced freeend portion 30a adapted to fit into the eye 28. The head tapers outwardly to a larger diameter Sill) which is greater than the.

normal inner diameter of the eye 28. A groove 3! is formed in'the head 30 just below the large diameter 3% thereof so that insertion of the head 36 will expand the eye 28 to clear the large diameter 3% thereof .and the eye will then snap into the groove 3| for rotatably retaining the stud. The'stud can thus rotate in the eye and can tilt in all planes through deflection of the projecting coils. The stud has a threaded shank portion 32 adapted for connection with any type of mounting means such as a crank arm.

. From the above description it will be under-.

stood that this invention provides inexpensive joint or universal, type connections. for links wherein a coil spring is utilized as the female or socket member of the joint and wherein the coils of the spring are deformed to provide a socket and are either stressed or compressed to engage a threaded member and resist relative rotation between the coilsand threaded member.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims, 7 4 I I claim as my invention:

said "recess having a resiliently expansible and contractible opening lying in a plane parallel fit with the axis of the coil spring.

4. A ball and socket joint construction comprising a coil spring tubular shank portion and a ball socket end portion composed of spread coils deformed to provide a loop with curved legs for straddling opposite sides of the ball end of a stud.

5. A link construction comprising a tubular coil spring, a rod having a threaded end of a greater pitch than. the coils of the spring threaded into a portion of said tubular spring whereby the coils surrounding the rod are axially stretched by said thread to resist rotational movement between the rod and spring, and said spring having deformed coils projecting from said rod defining a socket recess. r

. 6. A link construction comprising a tubular coil spring, a rod having a threaded end portion with a pitch lesser than the pitchof the coilthreaded into several of the coils to compress the coils together and resist relative rotation between the coil spring and rod, and said coil spring having a deformed end portion defining a socket recess.

7. A throttle rod connector comprising a tubular coil spring having closely adjacent coils, a throttle rod having a threaded end with a pitch greater than the coils of the spring threaded into said coil spring to axially stretch the coils apart,

said coil spring having an end portion projecting from said throttle rod with deformed coils defining a socket recess, and a stud snapped into said recess. a

8. A connector adapted for joining a' threaded member with a headed stud which comprises a one-piece coiled wire spring having a tubular shank portion defined by a plurality of wire coils of the spring adapted to engage a threadedmemher in threaded relation and an integral wi re socket portion on an end of said shank portion shaped to define a socket recess having airesiliently expansible and contractable. opening giving entrance thereto beyond the shank portion whereby a headed member can be snapped through said opening into the socket portion for retention in said portion.

GEORGE ONNIE JOHNSON. 

